Hill Street is a street in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, London, which runs south-west, then west, from

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

to Deanery Street, a short approach way from

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park to ...

. It was developed from farmland in the 18th century. Travelling one block to the east and south sees a fall of about three metres, whereas in the other direction the land rises gradually across six main blocks to beyond the north of

Marble Arch The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch in London, England. The structure was designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today th ...

(see Hyde Park). Hill Street's homes gained fashionable status from the outset: grand townhouses seeing use, at first, as seasonal lettings (rentals) and/or longer-term London homes of

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

– later, of other wealthy capitalists as much. Twenty-two, approximately half of its town houses, are listed. Along its course, only Audley Square House departs from townhouse-sized frontage, yet this shares in the street's predominant form of domestic architecture, Georgian neo-classical. Hill Street's public house is the oldest surviving one in Mayfair.

Development and architecture

The street's development was overseen in the 1740s by local landowner Lord Berkeley, who owned the house, gardens and farm holdings now covered by

and streets beyond. When

John Rocque John Rocque (originally Jean; –1762) was a French-born British surveyor and cartographer, best known for his detailed John Rocque's Map of London, 1746, map of London published in 1746. Life and career Rocque was born in France in about 1704 ...

produced his map of London in 1746, most streets on the west side of this square were shown in outline as building was underway; Hill Street was among the last area of farmland, and thus crosses "Farm" Street. Hill Street is like Mount Street and others to the north in dropping a little over three metres toward its east end, but here the land falls the same amount – though more rapidly – toward the next block south, scaled by Chesterfield Hill (in previous years named John Street) and Hays Mews; similarly to the east where the

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

ran. Foremost architects used were Benjamin Timbrell, as to Nos 17 and 19 1748, and Oliver Hill, as to No.15 in the 1920s. Claud Phillimore refurbished No.35 for Lady Astor in the late 1940s, giving six storeys and a basement for a grand and comfortable residence. Lady Astor's personal living room – "the Boudoir" – had walls decorated with blue satin. Twenty-two of the town houses are

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s: Nos 1 and 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 20, 22, 25, 26, 29, 31, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, and 42 and 44 Hill Street are listed Grade II; No.19 is Grade II*; No.17 has the highest status, Grade I.

Literary associations

Elizabeth Montagu hosted a literary salon at her house in Hill Street. Her circle was known as the Blue Stockings Society, and

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

called her the "Queen of the Blues". Other notable attendees of her gatherings included

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January ew Style, NS1729 – 9 July 1797) was an Anglo-Irish Politician, statesman, journalist, writer, literary critic, philosopher, and parliamentary orator who is regarded as the founder of the Social philosophy, soc ...

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

and

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

. In

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's novel ''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by the English author Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton (publisher), Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray, st ...

'',

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and Mary Crawford's uncle is an admiral living in Hill Street. Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's novel '' Waverley'', in which the hero's father is a Whig politician who lives in Hill Street, was published at the same time. In Thackeray's '' Vanity Fair'', several characters live on Great Gaunt Street or the adjoining Gaunt Square, including Lord and Lady Steyne and Sir Pitt Crawley. This fictional street was modelled on Hill Street. In addition, Lady Bareacres in the novel lives on Hill Street.

Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...

satirised

decadence in his novel '' Vile Bodies''. In this, along Hill Street stood fictional Pastmaster House – "the

William and Mary William and Mary often refers to: * The joint reign of William III of England (II of Scotland) and Mary II of England (and Scotland) * William and Mary style, a furniture design common from 1700 to 1725 named for the couple William and Mary may al ...

mansion of Lord and Lady Metroland with a magnificent ballroom, 'by universal consent the most beautiful building between

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

and

'". The Bright Young Thing society novelist

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973) was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford family#Mitford sisters, Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the ...

stayed at No.40 in 1955.

Prestige

This was among the prestigious streets of wealthy London socialites and politicians in the 18th and 19th centuries, and notable residents have included: * The 7th Earl of Barrymore – No.20 *

Lord Brougham Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, (; 19 September 1778 – 7 May 1868) was a British statesman who became Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain and played a prominent role in passing the Reform Act 1832 and Slavery ...

– No.5 * Admiral Byng in 1756; in 1757 he was sentenced to death and shot for losing Minorca in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

* Lord Chief Justice Camden died here in 1794 * Lord Morpeth, 7th Earl of Carlisle was born here in 1802 * Lord Colborne – No.19, where he collected paintings * The Countess of Darnley – No.21 * Admiral Philip Durham – No.9 * Master of the Rolls, Sir William Grant – No.21 * 1st Baron Hindlip – No.33 * Sir Abraham Hume, 1st Baronet and his son the 2nd Baronet – variously No.s 17, 19 and 29 * 1st Baron Londesborough * The 1st Baron Lyttelton, politician and patron of the arts, and his profligate son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

* The Mackintosh of Mackintosh – No.8 * The 1st Earl of Malmesbury died here whilst renting No.21 in 1820 * Philip Metcalfe, distiller and patron of the arts – No.20 * Elizabeth Montagu held literary parties here * The 1st Baron Revelstoke – No.26 * The Countess of Roden – No.27 * Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brise – No.41 * The 1st Baron de Tabley, collector and exhibitor of paintings and sculptures of the English school – No.24 * The 10th Marquess of Tweeddale – No.6 * Lady Vane, adulteress whose memoirs appeared in '' The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle'', died here in 1788 * Sir Charles Welby, 5th Baronet – No.34 * William Windham, politician – No.20 * The 1st Baron Westbury – No.30 *

Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (4 June 183325 March 1913) was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential British generals after a series of victories in Canada, West Africa and E ...

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

– No.6

References

{{LB City of Westminster Streets in the City of Westminster Mayfair